London: British police Tuesday are assessing whether former Labour Party politician Peter Mandelson should face a criminal investigation for leaking sensitive government information to the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.
The UK government is seeking ways to kick Mandelson out of Parliament and remove the noble title, Lord Mandelson, that comes with his lifetime membership in the House of Lords.
A trove of more than 3 million pages of Epstein-related documents released by the US Justice Department has brought excruciating revelations about 72-year-old Mandelson, a powerful political figure who served in senior government roles under previous Labour governments and was UK ambassador to Washington until he was fired in September over his ties to Epstein.
The newly released files contain new details about Mandelson’s contacts with the disgraced financier, including some which critics say may have broken the law. Police say they are reviewing reports of misconduct to determine if they meet the criminal threshold for investigation.
Among the revelations
In 2003-2004, bank documents suggest Epstein sent three payments totalling USD 75,000 to accounts linked either to Mandelson or to his partner Reinaldo Avila da Silva.
Mandelson has said that he doesn’t remember receiving the money and will investigate whether the documents are authentic. But he resigned from the governing Labour Party Sunday, saying he didn’t want to cause the party further embarrassment.
In 2008, Epstein avoided federal prosecution by pleading guilty to state charges in Florida of soliciting and procuring a minor for prostitution. He was sentenced to 18 months in jail.
Emails and text messages show that Mandelson’s friendship with Epstein continued after the financier’s sentence.
In 2009, Epstein sent da Silva 10,000 pounds (about USD 13,650 at today’s rates) to pay for an osteopathy course. Mandelson told The Times of London that in retrospect, it was clearly a lapse in our collective judgment for Reinaldo to accept this offer.
Also in 2009, Mandelson, then business secretary in the UK government, appears to have told Epstein he would lobby other members of the government to reduce a tax on bankers’ bonuses.
The same year, Mandelson sent Epstein an internal government report discussing ways the UK could raise money after the 2008 global financial crisis, including by selling off government assets. Mandelson wrote an interesting note that’s gone to the PM.
In 2010, Mandelson messaged Epstein that sources tell me a 500 billion euro bailout is almost complete. The message was dated the day European governments announced a 500 billion euro deal to shore up the single currency.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer has ordered the civil service to conduct an urgent review of all of Mandelson’s contacts with Epstein while he was in government.
Epstein died by suicide in a jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial on US federal charges accusing him of sexually abusing dozens of girls.
An email requesting comment on the documents was sent to Mandelson through the House of Lords.
